Most people in the chicken keeping world will know about Diatomaceous Earth, usually referred to as D.E. For those that haven’t heard of it, it is an invaluable natural product. It is a fossilised grey powder that although very fine is too sharp for insects (such as mites) to be able to withstand. It causes such insects to be punctured and dry out. It is no problem to the chickens and can be used externally and internally to keep them free of parasites. I puff it inside the coop (wear a mask for this as you shouldn’t breath it in) and sprinkle it in their dust baths and around the run.
Some people like to mix it in their chickens food so they take it internally but I have discovered that I don’t need to do this. My chickens have a habit of flicking out some of the pine shavings from inside the coop door and pecking up the D.E. from the coop floor. This has especially become a bedtime habit and in the late afternoon they can be found pecking away at the D.E. inside the coop door. I don’t quite know how they know it’s good for them! They seem to like it though.
Pepper pecking at the D.E.
On a different subject, Pepper has been going through a partial molt and regrowing her winter feathers. The dominiques have a layer of down under their feathers and can withstand very cold temperatures. As her new feathers have come in, she has suddenly got some all black feathers which you can see in this photo. Some of her darker feathers now have a green sheen too, like starling feathers. That doesn’t show up in this photo but you can see the two black spots. I think she is growing more beautiful. I hadn’t realised that as chickens molt their new feathers change. Pepper used to have two white wing feathers but they have now disappeared.
Treacle pecking at the D.E.
I had just cleaned out the coop and swept the patio area, when they all went to investigate. As you can see they have already flicked out some of the clean shavings to get the D.E. It seems irresistible to them. Clever chooks!
Click here to see the history of my flock.
I don’t think the chickens know it’s good for them. Chickens are pretty simple creatures when it comes to deciding what to put in their beaks: If it is small enough to fit in their beaks, 9 times out of 10 they will try to eat it! This includes layers pellets, grass, insects, sand, stones, DE, strips of silicone sealant (I watched one of mine eat this once).
I think chickens are robust enough to eat most things, regardless of whether it is ‘food’ or not!
I think they have a certain amount of instinct for these things because they go crazy at pecking at the D.E. but don’t peck at the dry dust bath I put in for them. The dry dust bath was for them to use on wet days. Its a tray with a mixture of sand, ash and D.E. They not only do not peck at it but they don’t dust bath in it either. The most they do with it is walk in it!